Is It Poetry Or “Journaling”?

Did you keep a personal journal when you were younger? Something to share feelings about strange exciting things you were experiencing you couldn’t articulate to others? Maybe just an intimate chronicle of your times?

One aspect of poetry I have found to be a most controversial one in my past is the question of just how personal can a poem get before it is considered something other than poetry?

I was an editor for the Western Illinois University annual college literary magazine for three years, taking it completely over my last year. It was a quality collection of poems, short stories, photography,… I was the first to introduce strip art into the mix. My team and I were very proud of the eclectic diversity.

The only conflict I had with the director and English professor overseeing our cumulative affair was in what she called “journaling”, or just writing out feelings on something and calling it poetry.  She didn’t believe it had a place in our book.

I tended to agree with her. Many submissions at that level tend to reflect that flavor of direction. However, I argued up and down for one application that I thought was cleverly worded and poetically expressed a relatable emotion. She still said it was journaling. I still put it in there! I’m glad I did.

Many poets using poetry as a therapeutic device tend to lean into this approach. I’ve always considered art as subjective, and one poet can never be “better than” or “nowhere close to” another. I’ve had my doubts of course… especially when reading the brilliant works of many of the modern poets today! But it really does come down to comparing “apples to oranges” as colleague and master editor Steve Wheeler once put it, which eased my worries immensely. 

Themes such as lost love and failures of so many colors consecrate the graves of most journalistic poetry. They are generally identified in detailed circumstances surrounding a relatable and often obvious theme.

Don’t get me wrong. I wrote one today and didn’t even consider putting it out there, but I did. A section of which as follows…

                                        —

fatalistic

…innocence psychoanalyzed by wisdom

gives way to shorts in an electrical brain 

snapping my tongue uncharacteristically 

freezing a gratuitous patience paralyzed 

forcing awkward damage control apologies 

eventually apologizing for my very existence 

hampering hankerings to do something wild

only because it hurts more than it ever did 

physically mentally spiritually life forces me

to become something I never wanted to be…

…fatalistic…

©️penned by: m.e.

                                       —

Be honest!!! 

I enthusiastically encourage you to be the editor here… is this poetry or just “journaling”?!

I appreciate your comments as always! Please feel free to contribute your feelings on this article below and thank you so much for reading! 

Matt Elmore

The healing power of poetry

As both a poet and psychologist, I'm fascinated by the healing power of poetry.

 
Reading and writing poetry can make all the difference, particularly in the context of depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and anxiety. 

Don't take my word for it. There are several psychological research studies that show clear evidence for the healing power of the written and spoken word. 

In 2021 a study conducted by Delamerced, Panicker, Monteiro and Chung used poetry as an intervention in the care of hospitalised children. The study showed that the poetry was therapeutic, and eased the children's anxiety and stress.  

Research in 2013 studied poetry that was used as therapy for abused and traumatised adolescents. Conducted by Grace Brillantes-Evangelista, the study revealed that poetry was significantly effective in alleviating the symptoms of depression. Reading or listening to poetry helped the adolescents to address and manage their symptoms. 

Finally, there have been several studies that have highlighted the positive effects of poetry in the care of adults who have been counsellors of domestic violence victims and their consequent post traumatic stress. A 2008 study by Boone and Castillo showed that people who are exposed to traumatic experiences and develop PTSD can read poetry to reduce their symptoms and destress their minds.

Poetry really is good for your mental health and well-being!

Steve Wheeler

Image from Pickpic using a Creative Commons licence

References

Boone and Castillo (2008) The use of poetry therapy with domestic violence counselors experiencing secondary post traumatic stress disorder symptoms, Journal of Poetry Therapy, 21 (1) 3-14.

Brillantes-Evalngelista (2013) An evaluation of visual arts and poetry as therapeutic interventions with abused adolescents, The Arts in Psychotherapy, 40 (1), 71-84.

Delamerced et al (2021) Effects of poetry intervention on emotional wellbeing in hospitalized pediatric patients, Hospital Pediatrics, 11 (3), 263-269.

Writing poetry as therapy

Have you ever been told not to cry? Or laugh? No public displays of affection? Don’t wear polka dots? 

If so, how did it make you feel to be choked off like that? Rejected? Restricted? Denied?

A colleague of mine recently mentioned in a comment from my last blog that she was once called out for being “too depressing” in a poetry group. 

It got me to thinking… is it possible to be too depressing as a poet? Too happy? Should this be a means of dejection from writing? Never to be addressed…?

Writing as a form of therapy has been known to massively benefit mental health… a primal scream to just get it all out. Worked for John Lennon! Once we let out this literary primal scream, we are on the outside looking in. This can be done by journaling, reviving memories, recounting feelings that were experienced during moments…

According to Elizabeth Sullivan, a licensed marriage and family therapist in San Francisco, “one of the most powerful aspects of therapy is cultivating the ability to observe our thoughts and feelings.” https://psychcentral.com/blog/the-power-of-writing-3-types-of-therapeutic-writing#1

Accepting themes that can be depressing as a sort of tonic of acceptance allows us to digest traumas and move on. Losing a loved one, loneliness, personally dealing with a fatal illness… all potentially socially awkward themes that should not be allowed to be smothered, denied, or restricted. 

Pinterest recently predicted in its 2023 trends report, “alternatives to talk therapy are on the rise”. 

Taking communication to another level by incorporating rhythms and rhymes with personal experience into poetry makes writing a bit cathartic in a sense. . It can actually heal our brains!

Poetry (like music) is the most incredible art form, presenting a platform by which to express whatever emotion we are feeling. Many affirmation poems, or what I like to call redemption poems, do this quite well. Bouncing back!

Some of the best perspectives come from some form of adversity. As writers, we draw upon this rather than avoid it… only to write about the moon and butterflies. Not that there is anything wrong with either!

Lonely butterflies on the moon… hey, if we can endeavor to mix the good with the bad, we might create some incredibly strong moods from which to draw upon.

Let me know what you think in the comments below… As always, I love to hear from you! 

Matt Elmore